Friday, October 28, 2011

NCIC Supports Kaplan's Statement on Occupy Oakland Violence

The Northern California Interreligious Conference supports Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan's statement concerning the violence against the protestors of Occupy Oakland. NCIC calls upon clergy to make a stand for social justice.

"My thoughts and prayers today are with Corporal Scott Olsen, a veteran of the United States Marines – and I pray for his speedy recovery.

The head injury that Scott Olsen suffered, and deployment of dangerous projectiles, absolutely should never have happened – and I am committed to preventing such harms from happening again.

Next Thursday, the Oakland City Council will convene a special meeting to discuss these incidents and to evaluate next steps moving forward.

As Oakland’s citywide councilmember, I will be proposing to re-clarify city policy so that we do not allow the firing of dangerous projectiles into crowds of peaceful protesters.

Oakland should have learned its lesson in 2003, when antiwar protesters and bystanders at the Port of Oakland were injured by police projectiles. Former Police Chief Richard Word at that time announced stricter guidelines for use of force against demonstrators. The United Nations spoke out against excessive force and the City of Oakland paid out more than $2 million in settlement payments to injured demonstrators.

As is too often the case, those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat them.

We must learn from, and act to, prevent this type of incident from taking place.

Like so many of the 99%, I am appalled that big Wall Street banks have destroyed our nation’s economy, robbed so many of their life savings, engaged in deceptive lending and unjust foreclosures and stripped from people the hope they had for the American Dream.

And I have long argued that we must go after these big banks for their abuses.

That’s why I directed the City of Oakland, through legislation adopted in May, to begin levying fines of $1,000 per property each day that one of these banks leaves blighted a home that they’ve taken from an Oakland family.

As I’ve worked on this anti-foreclosure legislation, I’ve shared the frustration of so many people who took action peacefully to make sure that the world hears a very clear message: we won’t sit idly by and watch corporate malfeasance tear apart the hope of our communities and deny people jobs and economic opportunity.

We must seek a future of peace, justice and shared prosperity – including respect for free speech and prevention of harm to the public.

I look forward to discussing my proposal on preventing the excessive use of force and hearing others’ ideas as we move forward. You can join this discussion at the Special City Council Meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 3rd in the Council Chambers of Oakland City Hall, located at 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612.

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Rebecca Kaplan represents the entire City of Oakland as its Councilmember At-Large. She has served Oakland as a citywide elected official for ten years, working to improve quality of life by enhancing economic opportunity, public safety and vibrancy in Oakland. Prior to representing Oakland voters on the City Council, she served as At-Large Director on the AC Transit Board of Directors. Councilmember Kaplan holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a M.A. from Tufts University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.